BENGALURU: Fifteen days into her engineering course, L Gopika Murthy realised that she did not like what she was doing. After communicating it to her mother, she discontinued the course after a year. On Sunday, Gopika, hogged the limelight at the 24th convocation of National Law School of India University, Bengaluru.
Having secured 11 gold medals, the girl from Thiruvananthapuram said that the accolades she received was a result of dedication and hard work. Speaking to Express, she recalled how the transition from a technical course to law was a challenge for her. “I spent a lot of time studying the subjects, as some of the topics I was learning were new to me,” she said.
Gopika, who completed her course with flying colours, now plans to pursue her Masters programme in Commercial Law from Oxford University. She has also been offered a job at Herbert Smith Freehills, which she can take up in a year.
“I will do my masters in Commercial Law, as it has always intrigued me,” she added. Among those cheering for her was her 81-year-old grandmother, Tangam. “I am very happy about her achievement. She has struggled really hard to achieve what she has won today,” she said.
Shreya Prakash, with three medals, has a different career plan. She wants to work on law reform and has joined the New Delhi based, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and for now she put her plans for higher studies on hold. Deekshitha G from Chennai, also secured three gold medals. “I wanted to study law since I was in ninth standard, as there are many lawyers in my maternal side,” she said.
Girls outshone in the convocation. As many as 17 of the 21 gold medallists were girls.